Electric driven hydraulic fracking system

ABSTRACT

An electric driven hydraulic fracking system is disclosed. A pump configuration that includes the single VFD, the single shaft electric motor, and the single hydraulic pump that is mounted on the single pump trailer. The single VFD converts the electric power of at least 13.8 kV to a VFD rated voltage level of at least 4160V and drives the single shaft electric motor at the VFD voltage level of up to 4160V to control the operation of the single shaft electric motor and the single hydraulic pump. The single shaft electric motor drives the single hydraulic pump with the rotation at the rated RPM level of at least 750 RPM. The single hydraulic pump continuously pumps the fracking media into the well at the HP level of at least 5000 HP. The single hydraulic pump operates on a continuous duty cycle to continuously pump the fracking media at the HP level of at least 5000 HP.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S.Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 16/989,831 filed on Aug. 10, 2020which is a continuation application of U.S. Nonprovisional applicationSer. No. 16/790,392 filed on Feb. 13, 2020 which issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,738,580 on Aug. 11, 2020, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/805,521 filed on Feb. 14, 2019, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Field of Disclosure

The present disclosure generally relates to electric driven hydraulicfracking systems and specifically to a single Variable Frequency Drive(VFD), a single shaft electric motor, and a single hydraulic pumppositioned on a single pump trailer.

Related Art

Conventional hydraulic fracking systems are diesel powered in thatseveral different diesel engines apply the power to the hydraulic pumpsas well as several types of auxiliary systems that assist the hydraulicpumps to execute the fracking, such as hydraulic coolers and lube pumps.Conventional diesel powered hydraulic fracking systems require a dieselengine and a transmission to be connected to a hydraulic pump to drivethe hydraulic pump. However, typically several hydraulic pumps arerequired at a single fracking site to prepare the well for the laterextraction of the fluid, such as hydrocarbons, from the existing well.Thus, each of the several hydraulic pumps positioned at a singlefracking site require a single diesel engine and single transmission toadequately drive the corresponding hydraulic pump requiring severaldiesel engines and transmissions to also be positioned at the singlefracking site in addition to the several hydraulic pumps.

Typically, the diesel engines limit the horsepower (HP) that thehydraulic pumps may operate thereby requiring an increased quantity ofhydraulic pumps to attain the required HP necessary prepare the well forthe later extraction of fluid, such as hydrocarbons, from the existingwell. Any increase in the power rating of hydraulic pumps also resultsin an increase in the power rating of diesel engines and transmissionsrequired at the fracking site as each hydraulic pump requires asufficiently rated diesel engine and transmission. As the dieselengines, transmissions, and hydraulic pumps for a single fracking siteincrease, so does quantity of trailers required to transport andposition configurations at the fracking site.

The numerous diesel engines, transmissions, and hydraulic pumps requiredat a fracking site significantly drives up the cost of the frackingoperation. Each of the numerous trailers required to transport andposition configurations require CDL drivers to operate as well asincreased manpower to rig the increased assets positioned at thefracking site and may be classified as loads in need of permits, thusadding expense and possible delays. The amount of diesel fuel requiredto power the numerous diesel engines to drive the numerous hydraulicpumps required to prepare the well for the later extraction of thefluid, such as hydrocarbons, from the existing well also significantlydrives up the cost of the fracking operation. Further, the parasiticlosses typically occur as the diesel engines drive the hydraulic pumpsas well as drive the auxiliary systems. Such parasitic losses actuallydecrease the amount of HP that is available for the hydraulic pumpsoperate thereby significantly decreasing the productivity of hydraulicpumps. In doing so, the duration of the fracking operation is extendedresulting in significant increases in the cost of the frackingoperation. The diesel engines also significantly increase the noiselevels of the fracking operation and may have difficulty operatingwithin required air quality limits.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference tothe accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numeralsindicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, theleft most digit(s) of a reference number typically identifies thedrawing in which the reference number first appears.

FIG. 1 illustrates a top-elevational view of a hydraulic frackingoperation such that the hydraulic pumps may pump a fracking media into awell to execute a fracking operation to extract a fluid from the well;

FIG. 2 illustrates a top-elevational view of a single pump configurationthat includes a single VFD, a single shaft electric motor, and a singlehydraulic pump that are each mounted on a single pump trailer;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an electric driven hydraulicfracking system that provides an electric driven system to execute afracking operation in that the electric power is produced by a powergeneration system and then distributed such that each component in theelectric driven hydraulic fracking system is electrically powered;

FIG. 4 illustrates a top-elevational view of a mobile substation forelectric power provided by the electric utility grid as the powergeneration system; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a top-elevational view of a connector configurationfor each of the components of the electric driven hydraulic frackingsystem that may couple to a medium voltage cable, a low voltage cable,and a communication cable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE

The following Detailed Description refers to accompanying drawings toillustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with the present disclosure.References in the Detailed Description to “one exemplary embodiment,” an“exemplary embodiment,” an “example exemplary embodiment,” etc.,indicate the exemplary embodiment described may include a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic, but every exemplary embodimentmay not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring tothe same exemplary embodiment. Further, when a particular feature,structure, or characteristic may be described in connection with anexemplary embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in theart(s) to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic inconnection with other exemplary embodiments whether or not explicitlydescribed.

The exemplary embodiments described herein are provided for illustrativepurposes, and are not limiting. Other exemplary embodiments arepossible, and modifications may be made to the exemplary embodimentswithin the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, theDetailed Description is not meant to limit the present disclosure.Rather, the scope of the present disclosure is defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware,firmware, software, or any combination thereof. Embodiments of thepresent disclosure may also be implemented as instructions applied by amachine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by one or moreprocessors. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism forstoring or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine(e.g., a computing device). For example, a machine-readable medium mayinclude read only memory (“ROM”), random access memory (“RAM”), magneticdisk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices,electrical optical, acoustical or other forms of propagated signals(e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), andothers. Further firmware, software routines, and instructions may bedescribed herein as performing certain actions. However, it should beappreciated that such descriptions are merely for convenience and thatsuch actions in fact result from computing devices, processors,controllers, or other devices executing the firmware, software,routines, instructions, etc.

For purposes of this discussion, each of the various componentsdiscussed may be considered a module, and the term “module” shall beunderstood to include at least one software, firmware, and hardware(such as one or more circuit, microchip, or device, or any combinationthereof), and any combination thereof. In addition, it will beunderstood that each module may include one, or more than one, componentwithin an actual device, and each component that forms a part of thedescribed module may function either cooperatively or independently fromany other component forming a part of the module. Conversely, multiplemodules described herein may represent a single component within anactual device. Further, components within a module may be in a singledevice or distributed among multiple devices in a wired or wirelessmanner.

The following Detailed Description of the exemplary embodiments will sofully reveal the general nature of the present disclosure that otherscan, by applying knowledge of those skilled in the relevant art(s),readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such exemplaryembodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, such adaptationsand modifications are intended to be within the meaning and plurality ofequivalents of the exemplary embodiments based upon the teaching andguidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseologyor terminology herein for the purpose of description and not oflimitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the presentspecification is to be interpreted by those skilled in the relevantart(s) in light of the teachings herein.

System Overview

FIG. 1 illustrates a top-elevational view of a hydraulic frackingoperation such that the hydraulic pumps may pump a fracking media into awell to execute a fracking operation to extract a fluid from the well. Ahydraulic fracking operation 100 includes a fracking trailer 170 that afracking configuration may be deployed. The fracking configuration maybe the fracking equipment that executes the actual fracking to preparethe well for the later extraction of the fluid from the well. Forexample, the fracking trailer 170 may include the fracking equipmentthat implements the missile as well as the well heads that are affixedonto the well and distribute the fracking media into the well to preparethe well for later extraction of the fluid from the well. The fluidextracted from the well may include a liquid, such as crude oil, and soon, or a gas, such as such as hydrocarbons, natural gas and so on, thatis extracted from the well that is then stored and distributed.

The power that is generated to provide power to each of the numerouscomponents included in the hydraulic fracking operation 100 ispositioned on a power generation system 110. Often times, the frackingsite is a remote site where it has been determined that sufficient fluidhas been located underground to justify temporarily establishing thehydraulic fracking operation 100 for a period of time to drill the welland extract the fluid from the well. Such fracking sites are often timespositioned in remote locations such as uninhabited areas in mountainousregions with limited road access to the fracking sites such that thehydraulic fracking operation 100 is often times a mobile operation whereeach of the components are positioned on trailers that are then hauledto the fracking site via semi-trucks and/or tractors. For example, thefracking trailer 170 includes the fracking equipment which is hauled invia a semi-truck and is positioned closest to the well as compared tothe other components in order to execute the fracking operation.

In another example, the power generation system 110 may also be a mobileoperation such that the power generation equipment may be mounted on apower generation trailer and transported to the fracking site via asemi-truck and/or tractor. The power generation system 110 may bepositioned on the fracking site such that any component of the hydraulicfracking operation 100 may be powered by the power generation system110. In doing so, the power required for the hydraulic frackingoperation 100 may be consolidated to the power generation system 110such that the power generation system 110 provides the necessary powerrequired for the hydraulic fracking operation 100. Thus, the powergeneration system 110 may be positioned at the fracking site in a mannersuch that each component of the hydraulic fracking operation 100 mayhave power distributed from the power generation system 110 to eachrespective component of the hydraulic fracking operation 100.

The power generation system 110 may include power generation systemsthat generate electric power such that the hydraulic fracking operation100 is powered via electric power generated by the power generationsystem 110 and does not require subsidiary power generation systems suchas subsidiary power generation systems that include diesel engines. Indoing so, the power generation system 110 may provide electric power toeach component of the hydraulic fracking operation 100 such that thehydraulic fracking operation 100 is solely powered by electric powergenerated by the power generation system 110. The power generationsystem 110 may consolidate the electric power that is generated for theelectric driven hydraulic fracking system 100 such that the quantity andsize of power sources included in the power generation system 110 isdecreased.

The power sources are included in the power generation system 110 andoutput electric power such that the electric power outputted from eachpower source included in the power generation system 110 is collectivelyaccumulated to be electric power at a power generation voltage level aswill be discussed in detail below. For example, the power output foreach of the power sources included in the power generation system 110may be paralleled to generate the electric power at the power generationvoltage level. The power generation system 110 may include numerouspower sources as well as different power sources and any combinationthereof. For example, the power generation system may include powersources that include a quantity of gas turbine engines. In anotherexample, the power generation system 110 may include a power source thatincludes an electric power plant that independently generates electricpower for an electric utility grid. In another example, the powergeneration system 110 may include a combination of gas turbine enginesand an electric power plant. The power generation system 110 maygenerate the electric power at a power level and a voltage level.

The power generation system 110 may generate electric power at a powergeneration voltage level in which the power generation voltage level isthe voltage level that the power generation system is capable ofgenerating the electric power. For example, the power generation system110 when the power sources of the power generation system 110 include aquantity of gas turbine engines may generate the electric power at thepower generation voltage level of 13.8 kV which is a typical voltagelevel for electric power generated by gas turbine engines. In anotherexample, the power generation system 110 when the power sources of thepower generation system include an electric power plan may generate theelectric power at the power generation voltage level of 12.47 kV whichis a typical voltage level for electric power generated by an electricpower plant.

In another example, the power generation system 110 may generateelectric power that is already at a VFD voltage level to power thesingle shaft electric motor 150(a-n) as discussed in detail below. Insuch an example, the power generation system 110 may generate theelectric power that is already at the VFD voltage level of 4160V. Inanother example, the power generation system 110 may generate theelectric power at the power generation voltage level at a range of 4160Vto 15 kV. In another example, the power generation system 110 maygenerate electric power at the power generation voltage level of up to38 kV. The power generation system 110 may generate the electric powerat any power generation voltage level that is provided by the powersources included in the power generation system 110 that will beapparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure. The power generation system 110may then provide the electric power at the power generation voltagelevel to the power distribution trailer 120 via a medium voltage cable.

In an embodiment, the power generation system 110 may generate electricpower at a power level of at least 24 Mega Watts (MW) that is generatedat a power generation voltage level of at least 13.8 kV. In anotherembodiment, the power generation system 110 may generate electric powerat a power level of at least 24 MW that is generated at a powergeneration voltage level of at least 12.47 kW. The power generationsystem 110 may generate electric power at a power level such that thereis sufficient electric power to adequately power each of the componentsof the hydraulic fracking operation 100 while having gas turbine enginesin quantity and in size that enable the gas turbine engines to betransported to the fracking site and set up remotely via a trailer. Indoing so, the power distribution trailer 110 may include gas turbineengines that generate sufficient electric power to adequately power eachof the components of the hydraulic fracking operation 100 while notrequiring a large quantity of gas turbine engines and gas turbineengines of significant size that may significantly increase thedifficulty and the cost to transport the gas turbine engines to thefracking site.

In order to provide sufficient electric power to adequately power eachof the components of the hydraulic fracking operation 100 while notrequiring large quantities of gas turbine engines and/or gas turbineengines of significant size, the power distribution trailer 110 mayinclude single or multiple gas turbine engines that generate electricpower at power levels of 5 MW, 12 MW, 16 MW, 20-25 MW, 30 MW and/or anyother wattage level that may not require large quantities of gas turbineengines and/or gas turbine engines of significant size that will beapparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure. In another example, the powergeneration system 110 may be the electric utility power plant that islocal to the location of the fracking operation such that the powerdistribution trailer 120 may receive the electric power at the powerlevel of 24 MW and the power generation voltage level of 12.47 kVdirectly from the electric utility power plant.

In an embodiment, the power generation system 110 may include a firstgas turbine engine that generates electric power at a first power levelin range of 12 MW to 16 MW and a second gas turbine engine thatgenerates electric power at a second power level in a range of 12 MW to16 MW. The first gas turbine engine and the second gas turbine enginegenerate the same voltage level of at least 13.8 kV that is provided toa power distribution trailer 120 when the first power level is in therange of 12 MW to 16 MW generated by the first gas turbine engine iscombined with the second power level in the range of 12 MW to 16 MW. Inorder to provide sufficient electric power to adequately power eachcomponent of the hydraulic fracking operation 100 as well as limit thequantity of gas turbine engines as well as the size of the gas turbineengines such that the gas turbine engines may be positioned on a singletrailer and transported to the fracking site, the power generationsystem 110 may include two electric gas turbine engines that generateelectric power at power levels in the range of 12 MW to 16 MW such thatthe electric powers at the power levels in the range of 12 MW to 16 MWmay be paralleled together to generate the total electric power that isavailable to power each of the components of the hydraulic frackingoperation 100 is in the range of 24 MW to 32 MW.

Further, the power generation system 110 including more than one gasturbine engine to generate the electric power provides redundancy in thepower generation for the hydraulic fracking operation 100. In doing so,the power generation system 110 provides a redundancy to the electricdriven hydraulic fracking system in that the first gas turbine enginecontinues to provide the first power level to the power distributiontrailer 120 when the second gas turbine engine suffers a short circuitand/or other shutdown condition and the second gas turbine enginecontinues to provide the second power level to the power distributiontrailer 120 when the first gas turbine engine suffers the short circuitand/or other shutdown condition. The power generation system 110 maythen maintain a reduced quantity of hydraulic pump(s) 160(a-n) tocontinuously operate in the continuous duty cycle without interruptionin continuously pumping the fracking media due to the redundancyprovided by the first gas turbine engine and the second gas turbineengine.

By incorporating two gas turbine engines that generate electric power atpower levels in the range of 12 MW to 16 MW redundancy may be providedin that the electric power that is provided to the components of thehydraulic fracking operation 100 such that the fracking media iscontinuously pumped into the well to execute the fracking operation toprepare the well for the later extraction of the fluid from the welldespite one of the gas turbine engines suffering a short circuitcondition. In doing so, the incident energy at the point where the shortcircuit occurs may be reduced due to the reduced short circuitavailability of the power generation system 110. However, if one of thegas turbine engines were to fail due to a short circuit condition, theremaining gas turbine engine may continue to provide sufficient power toensure the fracking media is continuously pumped into the well. Afailure to continuously pump the fracking media into the well may resultin the sand, which is a major component of the fracking media coming outof the suspension and creating a plug at the bottom of the well whichtypically results in a significant expense to remove the sand in thewell so that the fracking can continue. The power generation system 110may include any combination of gas turbine engines and/or single gasturbine engine at any power level to sufficiently generate electricpower to adequately power each of the components of the hydraulicfracking operation 100 that will be apparent to those skilled in therelevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

The power generation system 110 may generate the electric power at apower generation voltage level that is in the medium voltage range of1.0 kilo Volts (kV) to 72.0 kV. However, in an embodiment, the powergeneration system 110 may generate the electric power at the powergeneration voltage level of 13.8 kV. In another embodiment, the powergeneration system 110 may generate the electric power at the powergeneration voltage level of 13.8 kV. The generation of the electricpower at the voltage level in the medium voltage range enables mediumvoltage cables to be used to connect the power generation system 110 tothe power distribution trailer 120 to propagate the electric power fromthe power generation system 110 to the power distribution trailer 120 aswell as enabling the use of medium voltage cables to propagate theelectric voltage level to any of the components powered by the electricpower in the medium voltage range. The use of medium voltage cablesrather than the use of low voltage cables decreases the size of thecable required in that medium voltage cables require less copper thanlow voltage cables thereby reducing the size and/or quantity of thecables required for the distribution of power throughout the hydraulicfracking operation 100.

Further, the consolidation of gas turbine engines to decrease thequantity of gas turbine engines required to power the components of thehydraulic fracking operation 100 and/or the incorporation of theelectric utility power plant also consolidates the quantity of mediumvoltage cables that are required to connect each of the gas turbineengines to the power distribution trailer 120 thereby further reducingthe cost of the cables required for the hydraulic fracking operation100. Further, the power generation system 110 generated the electricpower at the power generation voltage level of 13.8 kV and/or 12.47 kVenables the hydraulic fracking operation 100 to be more easilyintegrated with any electric utility grid anywhere in the world suchthat the electric utility grid may be more easily substituted into thepower generation system 110 in replacement of the gas turbine enginessince it is more common that the electric utility grid has transformersavailable to deliver the electric power at the power generation voltagelevel of 13.8 kV and/or 12.47 kV.

The power distribution trailer 120 may distribute the electric power atthe power level generated by the power generation system 110 to eachvariable frequency drive (VFD) 140(a-n) positioned on each pump trailer130(a-n). As noted above, the power generation system 110 may include atleast one gas turbine engine, the electric utility grid, and/or acombination thereof, to generate the electric power. In doing so, amedium voltage power cable may be connected from each component of thepower generation system 110 to the power distribution trailer 120. Forexample, the power generation system 110 may include two gas turbineengines with each of the gas turbine engines generating electric powerat the power level of 12 MW to 16 MW at the voltage level of 13.8 kV. Insuch an example, two medium voltage cables may then connect each of thetwo gas turbine engines to the power distribution trailer 120 such thatthe electric power at the power level of 12 MW to 16 MW at the voltagelevel of 13.8 kV may propagate from the gas turbine engines to the powerdistribution trailer 120.

The power distribution trailer 120 may then distribute the electricpower to each of the VFDs 140(a-n) positioned on each of the pumptrailers 130(a-n). As will be discussed in detail below, severaldifferent hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) may be required to continuously pumpthe fracking media into the well to execute the fracking operation toprepare the well for the later extraction of the fluid from the well. Indoing so, each of the different hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) may be drivenby a corresponding VFD 140(a-n) also positioned on the correspondingpump trailer 130(a-n) with the hydraulic pump 160(a-n). Each of the VFDs140(a-n) may then provide the appropriate power to drive each of thesingle shaft electric motors 150(a-n) that then drive each of thehydraulic pumps 160(a-n) to continuously pump the fracking media intothe well to execute the fracking operation to prepare the well for thelater extraction of the fluid from the well. Thus, the powerdistribution trailer 120 may distribute the electric power generated bythe power distribution trailer 110 which is consolidated to reduce thequantity of the gas turbine engines to the several different VFDs140(a-n) positioned on each of the pump trailers 130(a-n). Thecomponents of the power distribution trailer 120 may be transported tothe fracking site.

For example, the power distribution trailer 120 is configured todistribute the electric power at the power level of at least 24 MWgenerated by the at least one gas turbine engine from the voltage levelof at least 13.8 kV to the single VFD 140 a positioned on the singlepump trailer 130 a. In such an example, the power generation system 110includes two different gas turbine engines that generate the electricpower at the power level of 12 MW to 16 MW and at the voltage level of13.8 kV. Two different medium voltage cables may then propagate theelectric power generated by each of the two gas turbine engines at thepower level of 12 MW to 16 MW and at the voltage level of 13.8 kV to thepower distribution trailer 120. The power distribution trailer 120 maythen combine the power levels of 12 MW to 16 MW generated by each of thetwo gas turbine engines to generate a power level of 24 MW to 32 MW atthe voltage level of 13.8 kV. The power distribution trailer 120 maythen distribute the electric power at the voltage level of 13.8 kV toeach of eight different VFDs 140(a-n) via eight different medium voltagecables that propagate the electric power at the voltage level of 13.8 kVfrom the power distribution trailer 120 to each of the eight differentVFDs 140(a-n). The power distribution trailer 120 may distribute thepower generated by any quantity of gas turbine engines to any quantityof VFDs that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s)without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

In an embodiment, the power distribution trailer 120 may include aplurality of switch gear modules in that each switch gear moduleswitches the electric power generated by each of the components of thepower generation system 110 and received by the corresponding mediumvoltage cable to the medium voltage cable on and off to each of thecorresponding VFDs 140(a-n). For example, the power distribution trailer120 may include eight different switch gear modules to independentlyswitch the electric power generated by the two gas turbine engines atthe medium voltage level of 13.8 kV as received by the two differentmedium voltage cables on and off to the eight different medium voltagecables for each of the eight corresponding VFDs 140(a-n) to distributethe electric power at the medium voltage level of 13.8 kV to each of theeight corresponding VFDs 140(a-n).

In such an embodiment, the switch gear modules may include a solid stateinsulated switch gear (2SIS) that is manufactured by ABB and/orSchneider Electric. Such medium voltage switch gears may be sealedand/or shielded such that there is no exposure to live medium voltagecomponents. Often times the fracking site generates an immense amount ofdust and debris so removing any environmental exposure to live mediumvoltage components as provided by the 2SIS gear may decrease themaintenance required for the 2SIS. Further, the 2SIS may be permanentlyset to distribute the electric power from each of the gas turbineengines to each of the different VFDs 140(a-n) with little maintenance.The power distribution trailer 120 may incorporate any type of switchgear and/or switch gear configuration to adequately distribute theelectric power from the power generation system 110 to each of thedifferent VFDs 140(a-n) that will be apparent to those skilled in therelevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

As noted above, the power distribution trailer 120 may distribute theelectric power at the power generation voltage level generated by thepower generation system 110 to each of the different VFDs 140(a-n)positioned on the corresponding pump trailer 130(a-n). FIG. 2illustrates a top-elevational view of a single pump configuration 200that includes a single VFD 240, a single shaft electric motor 250 and asingle hydraulic pump 260 that are each mounted on a single pump trailer230. The single pump configuration 200 shares many similar features witheach pump trailer 130(a-n) that includes each corresponding VFD140(a-n), single shaft electric motor 150(a-n), and single hydraulicpump 160(a-n) depicted in the hydraulic fracking operation 100;therefore, only the differences between the single pump configuration200 and the hydraulic fracking operation 100 are to be discussed infurther details.

The power distribution trailer 120 may distribute the electric power atthe voltage level generated by the power generation system 110 to thesingle VFD 240 that is positioned on the single pump trailer 130(a-n).The single VFD 240 may then drive the single shaft electric motor 250and the single hydraulic pump 260 as well as control the operation ofthe single shaft electric motor 250 and the single hydraulic pump 260 asthe single shaft electric motor 250 continuously drives the singlehydraulic pump 260 as the single hydraulic pump 260 continuously pumpsthe fracking media into the well to execute the fracking operation toprepare the well for the later extraction of the fluid from the well. Indoing so, the VFD 240 may convert the electric power distributed by thepower distribution trailer 120 at the power generation voltage levelgenerated by the power generation system 110 to a VFD voltage level thatis a voltage level that is adequate to drive the single shaft electricmotor 250. Often times, the power generation voltage level of theelectric power distributed by the power distribution trailer 120 asgenerated by the power generation system 110 may be at a voltage levelthat is significantly higher than a voltage level that is adequate todrive the single shaft electric motor 250. Thus, the single VFD 240 mayconvert the power generation voltage level of the electric power asdistributed by the power distribution trailer 120 to significantly lower(or higher) the voltage level to the VFD voltage level that is needed todrive the single shaft electric motor 250. In an embodiment, the singleVFD 240 may convert the power generation voltage level of the electricpower as distributed by the power distribution trailer 120 to the VFDvoltage level of at least 4160V. In another embodiment, the single VFD240 may convert the power generation voltage level of the electric poweras distributed by the power distribution trailer 120 to the VFD voltagelevel that ranges from 4160V to 6600V. In another embodiment, the singleVFD 240 may convert the power generation level of the electric power asdistributed by the power distribution trailer 120 to the VFD voltagelevel that ranges from 0V to 4160V.

For example, the power generation system 110 generates the electricpower at a power generation voltage level of 13.8 kV. The powerdistribution trailer 120 then distributes the electric power at thepower generation voltage level of 13.8 kV to the single VFD 240.However, the single shaft electric motor 250 operates at a rated voltagelevel of at least 4160V in order to drive the single hydraulic pump 260in which the rated voltage level of at least 4160V for the single shaftelectric motor 250 to operate is significantly less than the powergeneration voltage level of 13.8 kV of the electric power that isdistributed by the power distribution trailer 120 to the single VFD 240.The single VFD 240 may then convert the electric power at the powergeneration voltage level of at least 13.8 kV distributed from the powerdistribution trailer 120 to a VFD rated voltage level of at least 4160Vand drive the single shaft electric motor 250 that is positioned on thesingle pump trailer 230 at the VFD rated voltage level of at least 4160Vto control the operation of the single shaft electric motor 250 and thesingle hydraulic pump 260. The single VFD 240 may convert any voltagelevel of the electric power distributed by the power distributiontrailer 120 to any VFD voltage level that is adequate to drive thesingle shaft electric motor that will be apparent to those skilled inthe relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

The single VFD 240 may also control the operation of the single shaftelectric motor 250 and the single hydraulic pump 260. The single VFD 240may include a sophisticated control system that may control in real-timethe operation of the single shaft electric motor 250 and the singlehydraulic pump 260 in order for the single shaft electric motor 250 andthe single hydraulic pump 260 to adequately operate to continuously pumpthe fracking media into the well to execute the fracking operation toprepare the well for the later extraction of the fluid from the well.Although, the single shaft electric motor 250 and the single hydraulicpump 260 may operate continuously to continuously pump the frackingmedia into the well, such continuous operation may not be continuouslyexecuted with the same parameters throughout the continuous operation.The parameters in which the single shaft electric motor 250 and thesingle hydraulic pump 260 may continuously operate may actually varybased on the current state of the fracking operation. The single VFD 240may automatically adjust the parameters in which the single shaftelectric motor 250 and the single hydraulic pump continuously operate toadequately respond to the current state of the fracking operation.

As noted above, the single VFD 240 may convert the electric power at thepower generation voltage level distributed by the power distributiontrailer 120 to the VFD voltage level that is adequate to drive thesingle shaft electric motor 250. The single shaft electric motor 250 maybe a single shaft electric motor in that the single shaft of theelectric motor is coupled to the single hydraulic pump 260 such that thesingle shaft electric motor 250 drives a single hydraulic pump in thesingle hydraulic pump 260. The single shaft electric motor 250 maycontinuously drive the single hydraulic pump 260 at an operatingfrequency to enable the single hydraulic pump 260 to continuously pumpthe fracking media into the well to execute the fracking operation toprepare the well for the later extraction of the fluid from the well.The single shaft electric motor 250 may operate at the VFD voltagelevels and at the operating frequencies below or above the rated levelsin order to rotate at a RPM level that is appropriate to continuouslydrive the single hydraulic pump 260 at the maximum horsepower (HP) levelthat the single hydraulic pump 260 is rated to pump. In an embodiment,the single shaft electric motor 250 may operate at a VFD voltage levelof at least 4160V. In an embodiment, the single shaft electric motor 250may operate at a VFD voltage level in a range of 4160V to 6600V. In anembodiment, the single shaft electric motor 250 may operate at a VFDvoltage level in arrange of 0V to 4160V. The single shaft electric motor250 may operate any VFD voltage level that is adequate to continuouslydrive the single hydraulic pump 260 that will be apparent to thoseskilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit andscope of the disclosure.

For example, the power distribution trailer 120 may distribute theelectric power to the single VFD 240 at the power generation voltagelevel of 13.8 kV. The single VFD 240 may then convert the electric powerat the power generation voltage level of 13.8 kV to the VFD voltagelevel of 4160V to adequately drive the single shaft electric motor 250.The single shaft electric motor 250 may operate at an operatingfrequency of 60 Hz and when the VFD voltage level of 4160V to adequatelydrive the single shaft electric motor at the operating frequency of 60Hz, the single shaft electric motor 250 may then rotate at a RPM levelof at least 750 RPM. The single shaft electric motor 250 may rotate at aRPM level of at least 750 RPM based on the VFD voltage level of at least4160V as provided by the single VFD 240 and to drive the singlehydraulic pump 260 that is positioned on the single pump trailer 230with the single VFD 240 and the single shaft electric motor 250 with therotation at the RPM level of at least 750 RPM.

In an embodiment, the single shaft electric motor 250 may rotate at aRPM level of at least 750 RPM. In an embodiment, the single shaftelectric motor 250 may rotate at a RPM level of 750 RPM to 1400 RPM. Thesingle shaft electric motor 250 may operate at any RPM level tocontinuously drive the single hydraulic pump 260 that will be apparentto those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure. The single shaft electric motor mayoperate at any operating frequency to continuously drive the singlehydraulic pump 260 that will be apparent to those skilled in therelevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

The single shaft electric motor 250 may be an induction motor thatrotates at the RPM level needed to obtain required pump speed based onthe input gear box ratio of the single hydraulic pump 260. Based on theoperating frequency of the single shaft motor 250 and the VFD voltagelevel applied to the single shaft electric motor 250, the single shaftelectric motor 250 may then rotate at the required RPM level and producesufficient torque to cause the pump to produce the required flow rate offracking media at the required output pressure level. However, the VFDvoltage level applied to the single shaft electric motor 250 may bedetermined based on the input gear box ratio of the single hydraulicpump 260 as the single shaft electric motor 250 cannot be allowed torotate at the RPM level that exceeds the maximum speed rating of theinput gear box of the single hydraulic pump 260 or the maximum speed ofthe single hydraulic pump 260. The single shaft electric motor 250 maybe an induction motor, a traction motor, a permanent magnet motor and/orany other electric motor that continuously drives the single hydraulicpup 260 that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s)without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

As noted above, the single shaft electric motor 250 may be coupled to asingle hydraulic pump in the single hydraulic pump 260 and drive thesingle hydraulic pump 260 such that the single hydraulic pump 260continuously pumps the fracking media into the well to execute thefracking operation to prepare the well for the later extraction of thefluid from the existing well. The single hydraulic pump 260 may operateon a continuous duty cycle such that the single hydraulic pump 260continuously pumps the fracking media into the well. Rather thanoperating on an intermittent duty cycle that causes conventionalhydraulic pumps to temporarily stall in the pumping of the frackingmedia into the well, the single hydraulic pump 260 in operating on acontinuous duty cycle may continuously pump the fracking media into thewell without any intermittent stalling in the pumping. In doing so, theefficiency in the fracking operation to prepare the well for the laterextraction of the fluid from the well may significantly increase as anyintermittent stalling in pumping the fracking media into the well mayresult in setbacks in the fracking operation and may increase the riskof sand plugging the existing well. Thus, the single hydraulic pump 260in operating on the continuous duty cycle may prevent any setbacks inthe fracking operation due to the continuous pumping of the frackingmedia into the well.

The single hydraulic pump 260 may continuously pump the fracking mediainto the well at the HP level that the single hydraulic pump 260 israted. The increase in the HP level that the single hydraulic pump 260may continuously pump the fracking media into the well may result in theincrease in the efficiency in the fracking operation to prepare the wellfor later extraction of the fluid from the well. For example, the singlehydraulic pump 260 may continuously pump the fracking media into thewell at the HP level of at least 5000 HP as driven by the single shaftmotor 250 at the RPM level of at least 750 RPM. The single hydraulicpump 260 operates on a continuous duty cycle to continuously pump thefracking media at the HP level of at least 5000 HP. In an embodiment,the single hydraulic pump 260 may operate at continuous duty with a HPlevel of 5000 HP and may be a Weir QEM5000 Pump. However, the singlehydraulic pump 260 may any type of hydraulic pump that operates on acontinuous duty cycle and at any HP level that adequately continuouslypumps the pumping fracking media into the well to execute the frackingoperation to prepare the well for the later extraction of the fluid fromthe well that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s)without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

The single pump trailer 230 discussed in detail above may then beincorporated into the hydraulic fracking operation 100 depicted inFIG. 1. Each of the several pumps trailers 130(a-n), where n is aninteger equal to or greater than one, may be in incorporated into thehydraulic fracking operation 100 to increase the overall HP level thatis applied to the fracking equipment positioned on the fracking trailer170 by each of the single hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) positioned on each ofthe pump trailers 130(a-n). In doing so, the overall HP level that isapplied to the fracking equipment positioned on the fracking trailer 170to continuously pump the fracking media into the well may besignificantly increased as the HP level that is applied to the frackingequipment is scaled with each single hydraulic pump 160(a-n) that isadded to the hydraulic fracking operation 100.

The positioning of each single VFD 140(a-n), single shaft electric motor150(a-n), and each single hydraulic pump 160(a-n) positioned on eachcorresponding pump trailer 130(a-n) enables the power distributiontrailer 120 to distribute the electric power at the power generationvoltage level to each single VFD 140(a-n) from a single powerdistribution source rather than having a corresponding single powerdistribution source for each single VFD 140(a-n), single shaft electricmotor 150(a-n), and each single hydraulic pump 160(a-n). In doing so,the electric power at the power generation voltage level may bedistributed to each single VFD 140(a-n), where n is in an integer equalto or greater than one and corresponds to the number of pump trailers130(a-n), then each single VFD 140(a-n) may individually convert thepower generation voltage level to the appropriate VFD voltage for thesingle shaft electric motor 150(a-n) and the single hydraulic pump160(a-n) that is positioned on the corresponding pump trailer 130(a-n)with the single VFD 140(a-n). The single VFD 140(a-n) may then alsocontrol the corresponding single shaft electric motor 150(a-n) and thesingle hydraulic pump 160(a-n) that is positioned on the correspondingpump trailer 130(a-n) with the single VFD 140(a-n).

In isolating the single VFD 140(a-n) to convert the electric power atthe power generation voltage level to the appropriate VFD voltage levelfor the single shaft electric motor 150(a-n) and the single hydraulicpump 160(a-n) positioned on the corresponding single pump trailer130(a-n) as the single VFD 140(a-n), the capabilities of the single pumptrailer 130(a-n) may then be easily scaled by replicating the singlepump trailer 130(a-n) into several different pump trailers 130(a-n). Inscaling the single pump trailer 130(a-n) into several different pumptrailers 130(a-n), the parameters for the single VFD 140(a-n), thesingle shaft electric motor 150(a-n), and the single hydraulic pump160(a-n) may be replicated to generate the several different pumptrailers 130(a-n) and in doing so scaling the hydraulic frackingoperation 100.

In doing so, each single VFD 140(a-n) may convert the electric power atthe power generation voltage level as distributed by the powerdistribution trailer 120 to the VFD voltage level to drive each singleshaft electric motor 150(a-n), where n is an integer equal to or greaterthan one and corresponds to the quantity of single VFDs 140(a-n) andpump trailers 130(a-n), such that each single shaft electric motor150(a-n) rotates at the RPM level sufficient to continuously drive thesingle hydraulic pump 160(a-n) at the HP level of the single hydraulicpump 160(a-n). Rather than simply having a single hydraulic pump 260 asdepicted in FIG. 2 and discussed in detail above to continuously pump atthe HP level of the single hydraulic pump 260, several differenthydraulic pumps 160(a-n), where n is an integer equal to or greater thanone and corresponds to the to the quantity of single VFDs 140(a-n),single shaft electric motors 150(a-n) and pump trailers 130(a-n), aspositioned on different pump trailers 160 may be scaled together toscale the overall HP level that is provided to the fracking equipment aspositioned on the fracking trailer 170. In doing so, the overall HPlevel that is provided to the fracking equipment to continuously pumpthe fracking media into the well to execute the fracking operation toprepare the well for the later extraction of the fluid from the well maybe easily scaled by incorporating each of the individual pump trailers130(a-n) each with single hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) operating at the HPlevels to scale the HP levels of the single hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) togenerate the overall HP level for the hydraulic fracking operation 100.

For example, each of the single hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) positioned oneach corresponding pump trailer 130(a-n) may be operating on acontinuous duty cycle at a HP level of at least 5000 HP. A total ofeight pump trailers 130(a-n) each with a single hydraulic pump 160(a-n)positioned on the corresponding pump trailer 130(a-n) results in a totalof eight hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) operating on a continuous duty cycleat a HP level of at least 5000 HP. In doing so, each of the eighthydraulic pumps 160(a-n) continuously pump the fracking media into thewell at a HP level of at least 40,000 HP and do so continuously witheach of the eight hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) operating on a continuousduty cycle. Thus, the fracking media may be continuously pumped into thewell at a HP level of at least 40,000 HP to execute the frackingoperation to prepare the well for the later extraction of the fluid fromthe well. The hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) positioned on each correspondingpump trailer 130(a-n) may operate on a continuous duty at any HP leveland the and the quantity of pump trailers may be scaled to any quantityobtain an overall HP level for the hydraulic fracking operation 100 thatwill be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Further, conventional hydraulic fracking operations that incorporatediesel engines require a diesel engine to drive each conventionalhydraulic pump rather than being able to consolidate the powergeneration to a power generation system 110 that consolidates thequantity and size of the gas turbine engines to generate the electricpower. Such an increase in diesel engines significantly increases thecost of the fracking operation in that significantly more trailersand/or significantly over size/weight trailers are required to transportthe diesel engines resulting in significantly more and/or specializedsemi-trucks and/or trailers required to transport the diesel engineswhich requires significantly more CDL drivers. As the overall assetcount increases at the fracking site, the overall cost increases due tothe increased amount of manpower required, the costs and delays relatedto permitted loads, as well as an increase in the amount of rigging thatis required to rig each of the diesel engines to the conventionalhydraulic pumps and so on. Rather, the electric driven hydraulicfracking operation 100 decreases the asset count by consolidating thepower generation to the gas turbine engines of decreased size andquantity that are consolidated into the power generation system 110. Thepower distribution trailer 120 then further decreases the cost byconsolidating the medium voltage cabling that is required to power eachof the assets thereby decreasing the amount of rigging required.

Further, conventional hydraulic fracking operations that incorporatediesel engines suffer significant parasitic losses throughout thedifferent components included in the fracking operation. Diesel enginesthat generate at a power level equal to the rated power level of theconventional fracking pumps may not result in delivering the full ratedpower to the pump due to parasitic losses throughout the conventionaldiesel fracking trailer configuration. For example, the diesel enginesmay suffer parasitic losses when driving the hydraulic coolers and thelube pumps that are associated with the conventional hydraulic pump inaddition to the parasitic losses suffered from driving the conventionalhydraulic pump itself. In such an example, the diesel engine may bedriving the conventional hydraulic pump that is rated at 2500 HP at theHP level of 2500 HP but due to parasitic losses, the diesel engine isactually only driving the conventional hydraulic pump at 85% of the HPlevel of 2500 HP due to the parasitic losses. However, the electricdriven hydraulic fracking operation 100 may have the single hydraulicpump 160(a-n) that is rated at the HP level of 5000 HP, however, theparasitic loads are controlled by equipment running in parallel with thesingle hydraulic pump 160(a-n), thus the single VFD 140(a-n) associatedwith each corresponding single hydraulic pump 160(a-n) provides all ofits output electric power to the single hydraulic pump 160(a-n), thesingle hydraulic pump 160(a-n) actually continuously pumps the frackingmedia into the well at 5000 HP. Thus, the asset count required for theelectric driven hydraulic fracking operation 100 is significantlyreduced as compared to the hydraulic fracking operations thatincorporate diesel engines due to the lack of parasitic losses for theelectric driven hydraulic fracking operation 100.

Further, the conventional hydraulic fracking operations that incorporatediesel engines generate significantly more noise than the electricdriven hydraulic fracking operation 100. The numerous diesel enginesrequired in the conventional hydraulic fracking operations generateincreased noise levels in that the diesel engines generate noise levelsat 110 Dba. However, the gas turbine engines incorporated into the powergeneration system 110 of the electric driven hydraulic frackingoperation 100 generate noise levels that are less than 85 Dba. Oftentimes, the fracking site has noise regulations associated with thefracking site in that the noise levels of the fracking operation cannotexceed 85 Dba. In such situations, an increased cost is associated withthe conventional hydraulic fracking operations that incorporate dieselengines in attempts to lower the noise levels generated by the dieselengines to below 85 Dba or having to build sound walls to redirect thenoise in order to achieve noise levels below 85 Dba. The electric drivenfracking operation 100 does not have the increased cost as the noiselevels of the oilfield gas turbine engines include silencers and stacks,thus they already fall below 85 Dba.

Further, the increase in the quantity of conventional hydraulic pumpsfurther increases the asset count which increases the cost as well asthe cost of operation of the increase in quantity of conventionalhydraulic pumps. Rather than having eight single hydraulic pumps160(a-n) rated at the HP level of 5000 HP to obtain a total HP level of40000 HP for the fracking site, the conventional hydraulic frackingsystems require sixteen conventional hydraulic pumps rated at the HPlevel of 2500 HP to obtain the total HP level of 40000 HP. In doing so,a significant cost is associated with the increased quantity ofconventional hydraulic pumps. Further, conventional hydraulic pumps thatfail to incorporate a single VFD 140(a-n), a single shaft electric motor150(a-n), and a single hydraulic pump 160(a-n) onto a single pumptrailer 130(a-n) further increase the cost by increasing additionaltrailers and rigging required to set up the numerous differentcomponents at the fracking site. Rather, the electric driven hydraulicfracking operation 100 incorporates the power distribution trailer 120to consolidate the power generated by the power generation system 110and then limit the distribution and the cabling required to distributethe electric power to each of the single pump trailers 130(a-n).

In addition to the fracking equipment positioned on the fracking trailer170 that is electrically driven by the electric power generated by thepower generation system 110 and each of the VFDs 140(a-n), single shaftelectric motors 150(a-n), and the single hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) thatare also electrically driven by the electric power generated by thepower generation system 110, a plurality of auxiliary systems 190 may bepositioned at the fracking site may also be electrically driven by theelectric power generated by power generation system 110. The auxiliarysystems 190 may assist each of the single hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) aswell as the fracking equipment positioned on the fracking trailer 170 aseach of the hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) operate to execute the frackingoperation to prepare the well for the later extraction of the fluid fromthe well. In doing so, the auxiliary systems 190 may be systems inaddition to the fracking equipment positioned on the fracking trailer170 and the single hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) that are required to preparethe well for the later execution of the fluid from the well.

For example, the auxiliary systems 190, such as a hydration system thatprovides adequate hydration to fracking media as the single hydraulicpumps 160(a-n) continuously pump the fracking media into the well. Thus,auxiliary systems 190 may include but are not limited to hydrationsystems, chemical additive systems, blending systems, sand storage andtransporting systems, mixing systems and/or any other type of systemthat is required at the fracking site that is addition to the frackingequipment positioned on the fracking trailer 170 and the singlehydraulic pumps 160(a-n) that may be electrically driven by the electricpower generated by the power generation system 110 that will be apparentto those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure.

The electric power generated by the power generation system 110 may thusbe distributed by the power distribution trailer 120 such that theelectric power generated by the power generation system 110 may also beincorporated to power the auxiliary systems 190. In doing so, theelectric power generated by the power generation system 110 may beincorporated to not only drive the pump trailers 130(a-n) via the singleVFDs 140(a-n) positioned on each pump trailer 130(a-n) but to also powerthe auxiliary systems 190. Thus, the hydraulic fracking operation 100may be completely electric driven in that each of the required systemspositioned on the fracking site may be powered by the electric powergenerated by the electric power that is consolidated to the powergeneration system 110.

As noted above, each of the single VFDs 140(a-n) may include asophisticated control system that may control in real-time the operationof the single shaft electric motors 150(a-n) and the single hydraulicpumps 160(a-n) in order for the single shaft electric motors 150(a-n)and the single hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) to optimally operate tocontinuously pump the fracking media into the well to execute thefracking operation to prepare the well for the later extraction of thefluid from the well. However, the fracking control center 180 that maybe positioned at the fracking site and/or remote from the fracking sitemay also control the single VFDs 140(a-n) and in doing so control thereal-time operation of the single shaft electric motors 150(a-n) and thesingle hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) in order for the single shaft electricmotors 150(a-n) and the single hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) to optimallyoperate to continuously pump the fracking media into the well to executethe fracking operation to extract the fluid from the well. In doing so,the fracking control center 180 may intervene to control the single VFDs140(a-n) when necessary. The fracking control center 180 may alsocontrol the fracking equipment positioned on the fracking trailer 170 aswell as the auxiliary systems 190 in order to ensure that the frackingoperation is optimally executed to prepare the well for the laterextraction of the fluid from the well.

Communication between the fracking control center 180 and the singleVFDs 140(a-n), the fracking equipment positioned on the fracking trailer170, and/or the auxiliary systems 190 may occur via wireless and/orwired connection communication. Wireless communication may occur via oneor more networks 105 such as the internet or Wi-Fi wireless accesspoints (WAP. In some embodiments, the network 105 may include one ormore wide area networks (WAN) or local area networks (LAN). The networkmay utilize one or more network technologies such as Ethernet, FastEthernet, Gigabit Ethernet, virtual private network (VPN), remote VPNaccess, a variant of IEEE 802.11 standard such as Wi-Fi, and the like.Communication over the network 105 takes place using one or more networkcommunication protocols including reliable streaming protocols such astransmission control protocol (TCP), Ethernet, Modbus, CanBus, EtherCAT,ProfiNET, and/or any other type of network communication protocol thatwill be apparent from those skilled in the relevant art(s) withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Wiredconnection communication may occur but is not limited to a fiber opticconnection, a coaxial cable connection, a copper cable connection,and/or any other type of direct wired connection that will be apparentfrom those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure. These examples areillustrative and not intended to limit the present disclosure.

Electric Power Distribution and Control

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an electric driven hydraulicfracking system that provides an electric driven system to execute afracking operation in that the electric power is consolidated in a powergeneration system and then distributed such that each component in theelectric driven hydraulic fracking system is electrically powered. Anelectric driven hydraulic fracking system 300 includes a powergeneration system 310, a power distribution trailer 320, a plurality ofpump trailers 330(a-n), a plurality of single VFDs 340(a-n), aswitchgear configuration 305, a plurality of trailer auxiliary systems315(a-n), a plurality of switchgears 325(a-n), a switchgear transformerconfiguration 335, and fracking equipment 370. The electric power isconsolidated in the power generation system 310 and then distributed atthe appropriate voltage levels by the power distribution trailer 320 todecrease the medium voltage cabling required to distribute the electricpower. The single VFDs 340(a-n) and the trailer auxiliary systems315(a-n) positioned on the pump trailers 330(a-n) as well as thefracking control center 380 and auxiliary systems 390 are electricallypowered by the electric power that is consolidated and generated by thepower generation system 310. The electric driven hydraulic frackingsystem 300 shares many similar features with the hydraulic frackingoperation 100 and the single pump configuration 200; therefore, only thedifferences between the electric driven hydraulic fracking system 300and the hydraulic fracking operation 100 and single pump configuration200 are to be discussed in further detail.

As noted above, the power generation system 310 may consolidate theelectric power 350 that is generated for the electric driven hydraulicfracking system 300 such that the quantity and size of the power sourcesincluded in the power generation system 310 is decreased. As discussedabove, the power generating system 310 may include numerous powersources as well as different power sources and any combination thereof.For example, the power generating system 310 may include power sourcesthat include a quantity of gas turbine engines. In another example, thepower generation system 310 may include a power source that includes anelectric power plant that independently generates electric power for anelectric utility grid. In another example, the power generation system310 may include a combination of gas turbine engines and an electricpower plant. The power generation system 310 may generate the electricpower 350 at a power level and a voltage level.

The power generation system 310 may generate electric power at a powergeneration voltage level in which the power generation voltage level isthe voltage level that the power generation system is capable ofgenerating the electric power 350. For example, the power generationsystem 310 when the power sources of the power generation system 310include a quantity of gas turbine engines may generate the electricpower 350 at the voltage level of 13.8 kV which is a typical voltagelevel for electric power 350 generated by gas turbine engines. Inanother example, the power generation system 310 when the power sourcesof the power generation system include an electric power plan maygenerate the electric power 350 at the voltage level of 12.47 kV whichis a typical voltage level for electric power 350 generated by anelectric power plant.

In another example, the power generation system 310 may generateelectric power 350 that is already at the VFD voltage level to power thesingle shaft electric motor 150(a-n) as discussed in detail below. Insuch an example, the power generation system 310 may generate theelectric power 350 that is already at the VFD voltage level of 4160V. Inanother example, the power generation system 310 may generate theelectric power 350 at the power generation voltage level in range of4160V to 15 kV. In another example, the power generation system 310 maygenerate electric power 350 at the power generation voltage level of upto 38 kV. The power generation system 310 may generate the electricpower 350 at any power generation voltage level that is provided by thepower sources included in the power generation system 310 that will beapparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure. The power generation system 310may then provide the electric power 350 at the power generation voltagelevel to the power distribution trailer 320 via a medium voltage cable.

In continuing for purposes of discussion, the power distribution trailer320 may then distribute the electric power 350 at the power generationvoltage level to a plurality of single VFDs 340(a-n), where n is aninteger equal to or greater than two, with each single VFD 340(a-n)positioned on a corresponding single trailer 330(a-n) from a pluralityof single trailers, where n is an integer equal to or greater than two.The power distribution trailer 320 may include a switchgearconfiguration 305 that includes a plurality of switchgears 325(a-n),where n is an integer equal to or greater than two, to distribute theelectric power 350 generated by the at least one power source includedin the power distribution trailer 310 at the power generation voltagelevel 360 to each corresponding single VFD 340(a-n) positioned on eachcorresponding trailer 330(a-n).

Since the electric power 350 is consolidated to the power generationsystem 310, the switch gear configuration 305 of the power distributiontrailer 320 may distribute the electric power 350 at the powergeneration voltage level as generated by the power generation system 310to each of the single VFDs 340(a-n) as electric power 360 at the powergeneration voltage level such that the each of the single VFDs 340(a-n)may then drive the single shaft electric motors and the single hydraulicpumps as discussed in detail below. For example, the switch gearconfiguration 305 of the power distribution trailer 320 may distributethe electric power 350 at the power generation voltage level of 13.8 kVto each of the single VFDs 340(a-n) as electric power 360 at the powergeneration voltage level of 13.8 kV when the power distribution system310 has power sources that include gas turbine engines. In anotherexample, the switch gear configuration 305 of the power distributiontrailer 320 may distribute the electric power 350 at the powergeneration level of 12.47 kV to each of the single VFDs 340(a-n) aselectric power 360 at the power generation level of 12.47 kV when thepower distribution 310 has power sources that include an electric powerplant.

In order for the electric power to be consolidated to the powergeneration system 310 as well as to provide an electric driven system inwhich each of the components of the electric driven hydraulic frackingsystem 300 is driven by the electric power generated by the powergeneration system 310, the power distribution trailer 320 provides theflexibility to distribute the electric power 350 generated by the powergeneration system 310 at different voltage levels. In adjusting thevoltage levels that the electric power 350 generated by the powergeneration system 310 is distributed, the power distribution trailer 320may then distribute the appropriate voltage levels to several differentcomponents included in the electric driven hydraulic fracking system 300to accommodate the electric power requirements of the several differentcomponents included in the electric driven hydraulic fracking system300. For example, the power distribution trailer 320 may distribute theelectric power 360 generated by the power generation system 310 at thevoltage level of 13.8 kV as generated by the power generation system 310via the switch gears 325(a-n) to each of the single VFDs 340(a-n) forthe each of the single VFDs 340(a-n) to drive the single shaft electricmotors and the single hydraulic pumps. In another example, the powerdistribution trailer 320 may distribute the electric power 360 generatedby the power generation system 310 at the voltage level of 12.47 kV asgenerated by the power generation system 310 via the switch gears325(a-n) to each of the single VFDs 340(a-n) for each of the single VFDs340(a-n) to drive the single shaft electric motors and the singlehydraulic pumps.

However, the electric power distribution trailer 320 may also distributethe electric power 350 generated by the power generation system 310 at adecreased voltage level from the voltage level of the electric power 350originally generated by the power generation system 310. Severaldifferent components of the electric driven hydraulic fracking system300 may have power requirements that require electric power at asignificantly lower voltage level than the electric power 350 originallygenerated by the power generation system 310. In doing so, the powerdistribution trailer 320 may include a switchgear transformerconfiguration 335 that may step-down the voltage level of the electricpower 350 as originally generated by the power distribution trailer 310to a lower voltage level that satisfies the power requirements of thosecomponents that may not be able to handle the increased voltage level ofthe electric power 350 originally generated by the power distributiontrailer 310. In doing so, the electric power distribution trailer 320may provide the necessary flexibility to continue to consolidate theelectric power 350 to the power generation system 310 while stillenabling each of the several components to be powered by the electricpower generated by the power generation system 310.

For example, the switchgear transformer configuration 335 may convertthe electric power 350 generated by the at least one power source of thepower generation system 310 at the power generation voltage level to atan auxiliary voltage level that is less than the power generationvoltage level. The switchgear transformer configuration 335 may thendistribute the electric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level to eachsingle VFD 340(a-n) on each corresponding single trailer 330(a-n) toenable each single VFD 340(a-n) from the plurality of single VFDs340(a-n) to communicate with the fracking control center 380. Theswitchgear transformer configuration 335 may also distribute theelectric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level to a plurality ofauxiliary systems 390. The plurality of auxiliary systems 390 assistseach single hydraulic pump as each hydraulic pump from the plurality ofsingle hydraulic pumps operate to prepare the well for the laterextraction of the fluid from the well.

In such an example, the switchgear transformer configuration 335 mayconvert the electric power 350 generated by the power generation system310 with power sources include gas turbine engines at the powergeneration voltage level of 13.8 kV to an auxiliary voltage level of480V that is less than the power generation voltage level of 13.8 kV.The switchgear transformer configuration 335 may then distribute theelectric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level of 480V to each singleVFD 340(a-n) on each corresponding single trailer 330(a-n) to enableeach single VFD 340(a-n) from the plurality of single VFDs 340(a-n) tocommunicate with the fracking control center 380. The switchgeartransformer configuration 335 may also distribute the electric power 355at the auxiliary voltage level of 480V to a plurality of auxiliarysystems 390.

In another example, the switchgear transformer configuration 335 mayconvert the electric power 350 generated by the power generation system310 with power sources that include an electric power plant at the powergeneration voltage level of 12.47 kV to an auxiliary voltage level of480V that is less than the power generation voltage level of 12.47 kV.In another example, the switchgear transformer configuration 33 mayconvert the electric power 350 at the power generation voltage levelgenerated by the power generation system 310 to the auxiliary voltagelevel of 480V, 120V, 24V and/or any other auxiliary voltage level thatis less than the power generation voltage level. The switchgeartransformer configuration 335 may convert the electric power 350 at thepower generation voltage level generated by the power generation system310 to any auxiliary voltage level that is less than the powergeneration voltage level to assist each single VFD 340(a-n) in executingoperations that do not require the electric power 360 at the powergeneration voltage level that will be apparent to those skilled in therelevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

Unlike each of the single VFDs 340(a-n) that may convert the electricpower 360 at the power generation voltage level to drive the singleshaft electric motors and the single hydraulic pumps, the frackingcontrol center 380, the auxiliary systems 390, the trailer auxiliarysystems 315(a-n) as well as the operation of features of the single VFDS340(a-n) that are unrelated to the driving of the single shaft electricmotors and the single hydraulic pumps require the electric power to bestepped down to the electric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level.The switchgear transformer configuration 335 may provide the necessaryflexibility to step-down the electric power 360 at the power generationvoltage level to the generate the electric power 355 at the auxiliaryvoltage level such that the remaining components of the electric drivenhydraulic fracking system 300 may also be electrically driven by theelectric power consolidated to the power generation system 310.

In stepping down the electric power 350 generated by the powergeneration system 310 at the power generation voltage level, theswitchgear transformer configuration 335 may provide the electric power355 at the auxiliary voltage level to the auxiliary systems 390. Indoing so, the auxiliary systems 390 may be electrically driven by theelectric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level such that the electricpower consolidated by the power generation system 310 may drive theauxiliary systems 390. The auxiliary systems 390 may include but are notlimited hydration systems, chemical additive systems, fracturingsystems, blending systems, mixing systems and so on such that each ofthe auxiliary systems 390 required to execute the fracking operation maybe electrically driven by the electric power consolidated by the powergeneration system 310. Further, the power distribution trailer 320 mayalso route a communication link 365 to each of the auxiliary systems 390such that the fracking control center 380 may intervene and control eachof the auxiliary systems 390 via the communication link 365 ifnecessary.

The switchgear transformer configuration 335 may also provide theelectric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level to the frackingcontrol center 380. In providing the auxiliary voltage level to thefracking control center 380, the fracking control center 380 mayremotely control the auxiliary systems 390, the single VFDs 340(a-n), aswell as the trailer auxiliary systems 315(a-n) as requested by thefracking control center 380. The power distribution trailer 320 mayroute the communication link 365 to the auxiliary systems 390, thesingle VFDs 340(a-n), and the trailer auxiliary systems 315(a-n) suchthat the fracking control center 380 may communicate with each of theauxiliary systems 390, the single VFDs 340(a-n), and the trailerauxiliary systems 315(a-n) and thereby control via the communicationlink 365. As discussed above, the communication link 365 may be awireline and/or wireless communication link.

The switchgear transformer configuration 335 may also provide theelectric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level to each of the singleVFDs 340(a-n). As discussed above and below, the single VFDs 340(a-n)convert the electric power 360 generated by the power generation system310 at the power generation voltage level to drive the single shaftelectric motors and the single hydraulic pumps. However, the single VFD340(a-n) may also operate with different functionality without having todrive the single shaft electric motors and the single hydraulic pumps.For example, the auxiliary systems 315(a-n) positioned on the pumptrailers 330(a-n) and/or included in the single VFDs 340(a-n) mayoperate as controlled by a corresponding VFD controller 345(a-n) that ispositioned on the corresponding single trailer 330(a-n) and associatedwith the corresponding single VFD 340(a-n).

In doing so, the single VFD controllers 345(a-n) may operate theauxiliary systems 315(a-n) when the single VFD 340(a-n) is simplyprovided the electric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level ratherthan having to operate with the electric power 360 at the powergeneration voltage level. In doing so, the fracking control center 380may also communicate with the VFD controllers 345(a-n) and the singleVFDs 340(a-n) as well as the trailer auxiliary systems 315(a-n) via thecommunication link 365 when the stepped-down electric power 355 at theauxiliary voltage level is provided to each of the single VFDs 340(a-n).In addition to operating auxiliary systems 315(a-n) when thecorresponding single VFD 340(a-n) is provided the electric power 355 atthe auxiliary voltage level, the VFD controller 345(a-n) may alsooperate the trailer auxiliary systems 315(a-n) as well as control thecorresponding single shaft electric motor 150(a-n) that then drives eachof the corresponding hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) to continuously pump thefracking media into the well to execute the fracking operation toextract the fluid from the well when the electric power 360 at the powergeneration voltage level is provided to the single VFDs 340(a-n).

For example, the single VFDs 340(a-n) may operate at a reduced capacitywhen the switchgear transformer configuration 335 provides the electricpower 355 at the auxiliary voltage level. In doing so, the single VFDs340(a-n) may operate in a maintenance mode in which the electric power355 at the auxiliary voltage level is sufficient for the single VFDs340(a-n) to spin the single shaft electric motors but not sufficient todrive the single shaft electric motors at the RPM levels that the singleshaft electric motors are rated. In operating the single VFDs 340(a-n)in the maintenance mode with the electric power 355 at the auxiliaryvoltage level, the hydraulic pumps as well as the fracking equipment 370may be examined and maintenance may be performed on the hydraulic pumpsand the fracking equipment 370 to ensure the hydraulic pumps 160(a-n)and the fracking equipment 370 are operating adequately. The VFDcontrollers 345(a-n) of the single VFDs 340(a-n) may execute thefunctionality of the single VFDs 340(a-n) when operating in themaintenance mode. The fracking control center 380 may also remotelycontrol the single VFDs 340(a-n) via the communication link 365 toexecute the functionality of the single VFDs 340(a-n) when operating inthe maintenance mode.

In another example, the trailer auxiliary systems 315(a-n) may beoperated when the single VFDs 340(a-n) are operating at the reducedcapacity when the switchgear transformer configuration 335 provides theelectric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level. The trailer auxiliarysystems 315(a-n) may be auxiliary systems positioned on the pumptrailers 330(a-n) and/or included in the single VFDs 340(a-n) such thatauxiliary operations may be performed on the single VFDs 340(a-n), thesingle shaft electric motors, and/or the single hydraulic pumps toassist in the maintenance and/or operation of the single VFDs 340(a-n)the single shaft electric motors and/or single hydraulic pumps when theelectric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level is provided to thesingle VFDs 340(a-n). For example, the trailer auxiliary systems315(a-n) may include but are not limited to motor blower systems, thelube oil controls, oil heaters, VFD fans, and/or any other type ofauxiliary system that is positioned on the pump trailers 330(a-n) and/orincluded in the single VFDs 340(a-n) to assist in the maintenance and/oroperation of the single VFDs 340(a-n), single shaft electric motors,and/or single hydraulic pumps that will be apparent to those skilled inthe relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

In an embodiment, each of the single VFDs 340(a-n) may include atransformer (not shown) also positioned on the single trailers 330(a-n)that may generate the electric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level.Rather than have the switchgear transformer configuration 335 distributethe electric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level to each of thesingle VFDs 340(a-n), each of the transformers may be able to generatethe electric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level such that each ofthe features discussed in detail above that are operated due to theelectric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level may be performed bythe electric power 355 at the auxiliary voltage level as generated byeach of the transformers. As a result, cabling between the powerdistribution trailer 320 and each of the single VFDs 340(a-n) may bereduced due to no longer requiring the cabling to propagate the electricpower 355 at the auxiliary voltage level from the switchgear transformerconfiguration 335 to each of the single VFDs 340(a-n).

In an embodiment, the controls for each of the trailer auxiliary systems315(a-n) may be embedded in the single VFDs 340(a-n) such that thesingle VFDs 340(a-n) may control each of the trailer auxiliary systems315(a-n) with the sophisticated control system included in each of thesingle VFDs 340(a-n). However, the fracking control center 380 may alsocontrol each of the trailer auxiliary systems 315(a-n) based on thecommunication link 365 in that the fracking control center 380 may hookinto the controls for each of the trailer auxiliary systems 315(a-n)that may be embedded in the single VFDs 340(a-n) and control each of thetrailer auxiliary systems 315(a-n) remotely. In doing so, the data mapof the fracking control center 380 may be mapped to the controls foreach of the trailer auxiliary systems 315(a-n) embedded in the singleVFDs 340(a-n) providing the single VFDs 340(a-n) with the modularity tobe easily externally controlled by any fracking control center 380positioned at the fracking site and/or positioned remote from thefracking site.

For example, the fracking control center 380 may request to activate thelubrication pumps included in the trailer auxiliary systems 315(a-n)positioned on the pump trailers 330(a-n). The fracking control center380 may simply activate the lube bit at the fracking control center 380to activate the lubrication pumps to lube the single hydraulic pumpspositioned on the pump trailers 330(a-n). The command then cascades downfrom the fracking control center 380 to the controls for the lubricationpumps embedded in the single VFDs 340(a-n) via the communication link365 and enables the fracking control center 380 to remotely activate thelubrication pumps to initiate circulating oil throughout the singlehydraulic pumps.

The VFD controllers 345(a-n) associated with each single VFD 340(a-n)may automatically adjust the trailer auxiliary systems 315(a-n) based onparameters monitored by the VFD controllers 345(a-n) in real-time as thesingle hydraulic pumps are continuously pumping the fracking media intothe well to execute the fracking operation to prepare the well for thelater extraction of the fluid from the well. Real-time is the state ofthe parameters monitored by the VFD controllers 345(a-n) as triggered bythe operation of the electric driven hydraulic fracking system 100 asthe hydraulic pumps 160(a-n) continuously pump the fracking media intothe well to execute the fracking operation. As the single hydraulicpumps 160(a-n) are continuously pumping the fracking media into the wellto execute the fracking operation to prepare the well for the laterextraction of the fluid from the well, several different parameters maybe continuously monitored by the single VFDs 340(a-n) to determinewhether the different parameters exceed and/or decrease below thresholdsthat may be indicative that the single VFDs 340(a-n) may have to executea corrective action to restore the different parameters to an adequatelevel. The single VFDs 340(a-n) may then automatically execute thecorrective actions to restore the different parameters to an adequatelevel and in doing so may prevent damage to any of the components of theelectric driven fracking system 300 and/or a halt in the frackingoperation.

For example, the VFD controllers 345(a-n) may monitor the temperature ofthe single VFDs 340(a-n), the single hydraulic pumps, and the singleshaft electric motors to determine whether the temperature exceeds atemperature threshold in real-time. The temperature threshold may beindicative that the temperature of the single VFDs 340(a-n), the singleshaft electric motors, and/or the single hydraulic pumps may beincreasing and indicative that a corrective action in cooling thetemperature of the single VFDs 340(a-n), the single shaft electricmotors, and/or the single hydraulic pumps may be required to ensure thatdamage is not inflicted onto the single VFDs 340(a-n), the single shaftelectric motors, and/or the single hydraulic pumps resulting in ahalting of the fracking operation. Thus, the VFD controllers 345(a-n)may then in real-time activate the fans positioned on the pump trailers330(a-n) to decrease the temperature of the single VFDs 340(a-n), thesingle shaft electric motors, and/or the single hydraulic pumps. Indoing so, the VFD controllers 345(a-n) may prevent damage to the singleVFDs 340(a-n), the single shaft electric motors, and/or the singlehydraulic pumps by cooling each appropriately by activating the fanswhen the temperature increased above the temperature threshold.

In another example, the VFD controllers 345(a-n) may monitor thepressure at the well head of the well as the fracking media iscontinuously injected into the well to determine whether the pressure ofthe fracking media exceeds a pressure threshold. The pressure thresholdmay be a regulatory threshold in that when the pressure of the frackingmedia at the well head in the well exceeds the pressure threshold, suchas 15000 PSI, then the iron is required to be pulled out of the wellbased on regulation requirements such that the iron may be replacedand/or examined for any cracks and recertified. Such a halt in thefracking operation may significantly delay the fracking operation aswell as significantly increase the cost. Thus, the VFD controllers345(a-n) may monitor the pressure at the well head of the well inreal-time to determine whether the pressure exceeds the pressurethreshold. The VFD controllers 345(a-n) may then execute a correctiveaction when the pressure exceeds the pressure threshold.

In an embodiment, the single VFDs 340(a-n) may execute a dual frequencyinjection into the single shaft electric motors to produce a moderatebraking effect on the single shaft electric motors when an unloadedmotor needs to be stopped as quickly as possible. In another embodiment,a contactor may connect to a resistor such that the flux on the singleshaft electric motor is maintained. The single VFDs 340(a-n) may thentransition the resistor across the line to facilitate a rapid decreasethe RPM level of the single shaft electric motor when an unloaded motorneeds to be stopped as quickly as possible. In another embodiment, thefracking control center 380 may remotely activate a clutch that may beinstalled between the single shaft electric motor and single hydraulicpump such that the fracking control center 380 may release the clutch todisengage the single shaft electric motor from the single hydraulic pumpto enable the single hydraulic pump to decrease the HP level todisconnect the inertial forces an unloaded motor from continuing todrive the single hydraulic pump 160(a-n) when the single hydraulic pump160(a-n) needs to be stopped as quickly as possible.

The single VFDs 340(a-n) may monitor any type of parameter such as butnot limited to pressure change of the fluid flowing through the singlehydraulic pump, flow rate, volume, temperature, pump efficiency,viscosity, thermal properties, Reynolds number, and/or any other type ofparameter that may be indicative as to whether a corrective actionshould be executed to prevent damage to any component of the electricdriven hydraulic fracking system 300 and/or to halt to frackingoperation that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s)without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Returning to the electric power 350 that is generated by the powergeneration system 310 at the power generation voltage level and thendistributed by the power distribution trailer 320 as the electric power360 at the power generation voltage level to the single VFDs 340(a-n),the single VFDs 340(a-n) may convert electric power 360 at the powergeneration voltage level to a VFD voltage level that is adequate todrive the single shaft electric motors. As noted above for example, thesingle VFDs 340(a-n) may convert the electric power 360 at the powergeneration voltage level to a VFD voltage level at a range 0V to 4160Vto adequately drive the single shaft electric motors. In a specificembodiment the single VFDs 340(a-n) may convert the electric power atthe power generation voltage level to a VFD voltage level of 4160V toadequately drive the single shaft electric motors. In anotherembodiment, the single VFDs 340(a-n) may convert the electric power 360at the power generation voltage level to a VFD voltage level at a rangeof 4160V and greater.

In another embodiment, the single VFDs 340(a-n) may convert the electricpower 360 at the power generation voltage level to a VFD voltage levelat a range of at least 4160V to adequately drive the single shaftelectric motors. The single VFDs 340(a-n) may convert the electric power360 at the power generation voltage level to any VFD voltage level toadequately drive the single shaft electric motors that will be apparentto those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure. Each single VFD 340(a-n) may includea phase shifting transformer that enables each single VFD 340(a-n) tooperate as a multi-cell VFD configuration. The multi-cell VFDconfiguration of each single VFD 340(a-n) may enable each single VFD340(a-n) to transition the AC voltage signal 360 that is associated withthe power generation voltage level as distributed by the powerdistribution trailer 320 to a VFD voltage signal that is associated withthe VFD voltage level.

Many conventional VFDs fail to adequately apply a sufficient amount ofphase changing sinusoidal signals to the conversion of the AC voltagesignal 360 at the power generation voltage level to the VFD voltagesignal at the VFD voltage level to achieve adequate levels of harmonicmitigation as the single VFDs 340(a-n) operate to drive thecorresponding single shaft electric motors and single shaft hydraulicpumps at the VFD voltage level when executing the fracking operation. Inan embodiment, the adequate elimination of harmonics from the operationof the VFD current waveform at the VFD voltage level is dictated byIEEE-519 that mandates the level of total harmonic distortion that isallowed in the VFD current waveform. Harmonics present in the VFDcurrent waveform that exceed the level of total harmonic distortionallowed by IEEE-519 is an excessive level of harmonics that areroutinely produced by the conventional VFDs. Harmonics present in theVFD current waveform that are below the level of total harmonicdistortion allowed by IEEE-519 results in having an adequate level ofharmonic mitigation. The level of harmonic mitigation such that thelevel of total harmonic distortion is at an adequate level may be anyadequate level that is acceptable to a power generation system 310 thatis providing power to the electric driven hydraulic fracking system 300that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Thus, the conventional VFDs in often failing to adequately mitigate thelevel of harmonics when converting the AC voltage signal 360 at thepower generation voltage level to generate the VFD voltage signal at theVFD voltage level may result in the VFD current waveform failingIEEE-519. In doing so, the excess quantity of harmonics present in theconventional VFD current waveform propagate back through the AC voltagesignal 360 provided by the power distribution trailer 320 as well aspropagate back through the electric power 350 provided by the electricpower generation system 310. The propagation of the excess quantity ofharmonics back through to the electric power 350 provided by theelectric power generation system 310 may impose significant inefficiencyand may reduce the available level of the electric power 350 provided bythe electric power generation system 310 to the single hydraulic pumps260 and all other applications outside of the electric driven hydraulicfracking system 300 as well as cause thermal damage to the electricpower distribution architecture of the electric power generation system310 such as power lines, power cables and so on.

Rather than simply applying a limited amount of phase changing signalsto the AC voltage signal 360 at the power generation voltage level togenerate the VFD voltage signal at the VFD voltage level, the phaseshifting transformer included in the single VFDs 340(a-n) provides asignificant amount of phase shifted signals to the AC voltage signal 360to transition the AC voltage signal 360 to the VFD voltage signal. Theplurality of sinusoidal signals with each sinusoidal signal having aphase shift relative to each other may significantly decrease thequantity of harmonics caused in the VFD current waveform as the VFDs340(a-n) drive the corresponding single shaft electric motor and singlehydraulic pump at the VFD voltage level. In doing so, the quantity oftotal harmonic distortion allowed in the VFD current waveform byIEEE-519 may be satisfied due to the decreased quantity of harmonicscontent in the VFD current waveform.

In reducing the harmonics, the VFDs 340(a-n) assists to assure anacceptable decreased level of harmonic content at the point of commoncoupling such that the VFDs 340(a-n) may couple to an electric utilitypower plant such that the electric utility power plant may be the powergeneration system 310 and may provide the AC voltage signal 360 at thevoltage level of 12.47 kV to the VFDs 340(a-n). The electric utilitypower plant generates electric power for an electric utility grid. TheVFDs 340(a-n) in reducing the harmonics also assist to mitigate the riskthat the harmonic content may propagate onto the electric utility gridthereby satisfying the criteria necessary for the electric utility powerplant to act as the power generation system 310. Further, the reductionof the harmonics enables the VFDs 340(a-n) to operate at an improvedpower factor which throughout the complete load range thereby furtherreducing the cost for having the electric utility power plant to providepower to the VFDs 340(a-n) as the power generation system 310. Forexample, FIG. 4 illustrates a top-elevational view of a mobilesubstation for electric power provided by the electric utility powerplant as the power generation system 310. In doing so, an electricutility power plant configuration 400 may act as the power generationsystem 310 and/or in a combination with at least one gas turbine engineas the power generation system 310 due to the elimination of theharmonics and the operation at an improved power factor by the VFDs340(a-n).

As noted above, medium voltage cables may propagate the AC voltagesignal 360 at the voltage level of 13.8 kV from the power distributiontrailer 320 to each of the VFDs 340(a-n). Low voltage cables maypropagate the auxiliary voltage signal 355 at the auxiliary voltagelevel of 480V from the power distribution trailer 320 to each of theVFDs 340(a-n). Communication cables may propagate communication signals365 from the power distribution trailer 320 to each of the VFDs340(a-n). FIG. 5 illustrates a top-elevational view of connectorconfiguration for each of the VFDs 340(a-n) that may couple to a mediumvoltage cable, a low voltage cable, and a communication cable.

The connector configuration 500 includes medium voltage connectors510(a-b) with each including a medium voltage plug and receptacle toeliminate the need of skilled personnel to connect the medium voltagecables to the VFDs 340(a-n). Rather than using a termination kit withnon-shielded cable, the medium voltage connections 510(a-b) enablemedium voltage cables to be easily connected to the VFDs 340(a-n) topropagate the AC voltage signal 360 at the voltage level of 13.8 kVwithout any risk of shorts and/or nicks in the non-shielded cable. Themedium voltage connections 510(a-b) include lockable handles thatsecurely connect the medium voltage cables to the medium voltageconnections 510(a-b) and provide lock out tag out. The low voltageconnections 520(a-b) provide connections to the low voltage cables thatpropagate the auxiliary voltage signal 355 at the auxiliary voltagelevel of 480V to the VFDs 340(a-n). The communication connection 530provides a connection to the communication cable to propagatecommunication signals 365 to the VFDs 340(a-n).

Often times when executing the fracking operation, gas may be producedwhen extracting the fluid from the well. Typically, the unwanted gas isflared off and not used. However, in an embodiment, the gas may becaptured and piped to a conditioning system and then provided as fuel tothe gas turbine engines that are included in the power generation system310. In doing so, the unwanted gas that is flared off during thefracking operation may then be conditioned and provided to fuel the gasturbine engines that are generating the electric power for the frackingoperation.

CONCLUSION

It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and notthe Abstract section, is intended to be used to interpret the claims.The Abstract section may set forth one or more, but not all exemplaryembodiments, of the present disclosure, and thus, is not intended tolimit the present disclosure and the appended claims in any way.

The present disclosure has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the implementation of specifiedfunctions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functionalbuilding blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenienceof the description. Alternate boundaries may be defined so long as thespecified functions and relationships thereof are appropriatelyperformed.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) the variouschanges in form and detail can be made without departing from the spirtand scope of the present disclosure. Thus the present disclosure shouldnot be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, butshould be defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electric driven hydraulic fracking system thatpumps a fracking media into a well to execute a fracking operation toextract a fluid from the well, comprising: a power generation systemthat is configured to generate electric power at a power generationlevel and a power generation voltage level; a power distribution trailerthat is configured to distribute the electric power generated by powergeneration system at the power generation level and the power generationvoltage level to a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD); and a pumpconfiguration that includes the VFD, an electric motor, and a hydraulicpump, wherein: the VFD is configured to convert the electric power atthe power generation voltage level distributed from the powerdistribution trailer to a VFD voltage level and drive the electric motorthat is associated with the VFD at the VFD voltage level to control theoperation of the electric motor to drive the hydraulic pump, wherein theVFD voltage level is a voltage level that is required to drive theelectric motor, the electric motor is configured to rotate at a RPMlevel based on the VFD voltage as provided by the VFD and to drive thehydraulic pump with the rotation at the RPM level, and the hydraulicpump is configured to pump the fracking media into the well at a HPlevel of at least 3000 HP as driven by the electric motor at the RPMlevel.
 2. The electric driven hydraulic fracking system of claim 1,wherein the hydraulic pump is further configured to operate on acontinuous duty cycle to continuously pump the fracking media into thewell at the HP level of at least 3000 HP.
 3. The electric drivenhydraulic fracking system of claim 1, wherein the power generationsystem comprises an electric utility power plant that is configured to:generate the electric power at a power generation level of 24 MW and apower generation voltage level of 12.47 kV, wherein the electric utilitypower plant is a power plant that independently generates electric powerfor an electric utility grid.
 4. The electric driven hydraulic frackingsystem of claim 3, wherein the VFD is further configured to apply aplurality of phase changing sinusoidal signals to a conversion of an ACvoltage signal associated with the electric power at the powergeneration voltage level to a VFD voltage signal at the VFD voltagelevel to mitigate a level of harmonics in a VFD current waveformincluded in the VFD voltage signal at the VFD voltage level thatpropagate back to the electric utility power plant.
 5. The electricdriven hydraulic fracking system of claim 4, wherein the VFD is furtherconfigured to apply each phase changing sinusoidal signal at a phaseshift relative to each other phase changing sinusoidal signal intransitioning the AC voltage signal to the VFD voltage signal to reducethe level of harmonics in the VFD current waveform included in the VFDvoltage signal that propagate back to the electric utility power plantto below a level of total harmonic distortion that satisfies IEEE-519.6. The electric driven hydraulic fracking system of claim 5, wherein theVFD is further configured to: reduce the level of harmonics introducedat a common point of coupling between the VFD and the electric utilitypower plant to enable the electric utility power plant to provide theelectric power at the power generation level of 24 MW and the powergeneration voltage level of 12.47 kV and to prevent disruption to theelectric utility grid associated with the electric utility power plant.7. The electric driven hydraulic fracking system of claim 3, wherein thepower generation system comprises a mobile power substation that isconfigured to: generate the electric power at the power generation levelof 24 MW and the power generation voltage level of 12.47 kV, wherein themobile power substation is a power plant that independently generatesthe electric power at the power generation level of 24 MW and the powergeneration voltage level of 12.47 kV.
 8. A method for an electric drivenhydraulic fracking system to pump a fracking media into a well toexecute a fracking operation to extract a fluid from the well,comprising: generating electric power by a power generation system at apower generation level and a power generation voltage level;distributing by a power distribution trailer the electric powergenerated by the power generation system at the power generation leveland the power generation voltage level to a single Variable FrequencyDrive (VFD); converting by the VFD the electric power at the powergeneration voltage level distributed from the power distribution trailerto a VFD voltage level, wherein the VFD voltage level is a voltage levelthat is required to drive the electric motor; driving the electric motorthat is associated with the VFD at the VFD voltage level to control theoperation of the electric motor to drive the hydraulic pump; driving thehydraulic pump that is associated with the VFD and the electric motorwith a rotation at a RPM level; and pumping by the hydraulic pump thefracking media into the well at a HP level of at least 3000 HP as drivenby the electric motor at the RPM level.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the pumping comprises: operating on a continuous duty cycle tocontinuously pump the fracking media into the well at the HP level of atleast 3000 HP.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the generating ofelectric power comprises: generating the electric power at a powergeneration level of 24 MW and a power generation voltage level of 12.47kV, wherein the electric utility power plant is a power plant thatindependently generates electric power for an electric utility grid. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein the converting the electric powercomprises: applying a plurality of phase changing sinusoidal signals toa conversion of an AC voltage signal associated with the electric powerat the power generation voltage level to a VFD voltage signal at the VFDvoltage level to mitigate a level of harmonics in a VFD current waveformincluded in the VFD voltage signal at the VFD voltage level thatpropagate back to the electric utility power plant.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the converting the electric power further comprises:applying each phase changing sinusoidal signal at a phase shift relativeto each other phase changing sinusoidal signal in transitioning the ACvoltage signal to the VFD voltage signal to reduce the level ofharmonics in the VFD current waveform included in the VFD voltage signalthat propagates back to the electric utility power plant to below alevel of harmonic distortion that satisfies IEEE-519.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, converting the electric power further comprises: reducing thelevel of harmonics introduced at a common point of coupling between theVFD and the electric utility power plant to enable the electric utilitypower plant to provide the electric power at the power generation levelof 24 MW and the power generation voltage level of 12.47 kV and toprevent disruption to the electric utility grid associated with theelectric utility power plant.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein thegenerating the electric power further comprises: generating the electricpower by a mobile power substation at the power generation level of 24MW and the power generation voltage level of 12.47 kV, wherein themobile power substation is a power plant that independently generatesthe electric power at the power generation level of 24 MW and the powergeneration voltage level of 12.47 kV.
 15. An electric driven hydraulicfracking system that pumps a fracking media into a well to execute afracking operation to extract a fluid from the well, comprises: a powergeneration system that that is configured to generate electric power ata power generation level and a power generation voltage level; a powerdistribution trailer that is configured to distribute the electric powergenerated by the power generation system at the power generation leveland the power generation voltage level to a plurality of VariableFrequency Drives (VFDs); and a pump configuration that includes theplurality of VFDs, a plurality of electric motors, and a plurality ofhydraulic pumps, wherein: each VFD is configured to convert the electricpower at the power generation voltage level distributed from the powerdistribution trailer to a VFD voltage level and drive the correspondingelectric motor that is associated with the corresponding VFD at the VFDvoltage level to control the operation of the corresponding electricmotor and the corresponding hydraulic pump, wherein the VFD voltagelevel is a voltage level that is required to drive the electric motor,each electric motor is configured to rotate at a RPM level based on theVFD voltage level as provided by the corresponding VFD and to drive thecorresponding hydraulic pump with the rotation at the RPM level, andeach hydraulic pump is configured to pump the fracking media into thewell at a HP level of at least 3000 HP as driven by the correspondingelectric motor at the RPM level.
 16. The electric driven hydraulicfracking system of claim 15, wherein each hydraulic pump is furtherconfigured to operate on a continuous duty cycle to continuously pumpthe fracking media into the well at the HP level of at least 3000 HP.17. The electric driven hydraulic fracking system of claim 15, whereinthe power generation system comprises an electric utility power plantthat is configured to: generate the electric power at a power generationlevel of 24 MW and power generation voltage level of 12.47 kV, whereinthe electric utility power plant is a power plant that independentlygenerates electric power for an electric utility grid.
 18. The electricdriven hydraulic fracking system of claim 17, wherein each VFD isfurther configured to apply a plurality of phase changing sinusoidalsignals to a conversion of a corresponding AC voltage signal associatedwith the electric power at the power generation voltage level to acorresponding VFD voltage signal at the VFD voltage level to mitigate alevel of harmonics in a VFD current waveform included in thecorresponding VFD voltage signal at the VFD voltage level that propagateback to the electric utility power plant.
 19. The electric drivehydraulic fracking system of claim 18, wherein each VFD is furtherconfigured to apply each phase changing sinusoidal signal at a phaseshift relative to each other phase changing sinusoidal signal intransitioning the corresponding AC voltage signal to the correspondingVFD voltage signal to reduce the level of harmonics in the correspondingVFD current waveform included in the corresponding VFD voltage signalthat propagates back to the electric utility power plant to below alevel of total harmonic distortion that satisfies IEEE-519.
 20. Theelectric driven hydraulic fracking system of claim 17, wherein the powergeneration system comprises a mobile power substation that is configuredto: generate the electric power at the power generation level of 24 MWand the power generation voltage level of 12.47 kV, wherein the mobilepower substation is a power plant that independently generates theelectric power at the power generation level of 24 MW and the powergeneration voltage level of 12.47 kV.